Given the degree of ignorance and negligence that is undermining asbestos safety in the UK, I cannot imagine how any form of exemption from the Control of Asbestos Regulations might be condoned, as approved by the Health & Safety Executive in relation to the break-up of the Clemenceau on Teeside (Residents fear for their health as toxic ship docks, 9 February).

From the persisting serious situation at the Palace of Westminster (Report, 17 July 2008), to the scandalous position - seemingly at all official levels - around the failure to conduct precautionary testing in the many schools that were built in the UK during the height of asbestos use, the picture is deplorable. For those who have any idea of the probable extent of the problem, the evidence is indeed horrifying.

It may well be that we have a safe asbestos-removal industry, but the regulations and their implementation (if not the actual standards) are failing to reassure, with long-term and widespread severe health implications. The UK could be a global model of precautionary thinking, but it is proving to be otherwise.Bernard MurphyDeputy editor, Clinica - World Medical Technology News

On 20 October 2007 the House of Lords ruled that pleural plaques, a lung condition caused by exposure to asbestos, is not compensatable. This decision repealed 20 years of established legal practice, robbed pleural plaques sufferers of the modest compensation they received for living under the shadow of developing mesothelioma in the future and, at a stroke, enriched the British insurance industry by £1.4bn.

Trade unions have been fighting to reverse this decision since the day the judgment was passed. Through our lobbying and campaigning, we have at least moved the government to consult upon the restoration of compensation and justice. But this is not enough. We have yet to receive a response from the government to its consultation exercise, which concluded in October 2008.

We are now calling upon the government to formally respond to the wishes of most respondents to their consultation and restore the right to compensation. Pleural plaques is a class issue, a moral issue and a justice issue. This is exactly the kind of reason why the Labour party was elected to government in 1997, 2001 and 2005 - to provide justice and recompense to workers whose bodies have been irreversibly damaged due to the negligence of their employers. Following the debate in parliament yesterday, it is a suitable moment for a positive response from our Labour government.Paul KennyGeneral secretary, GMBAllan RitchieGeneral secretary, UcattDerek SimpsonJoint general secretary, UniteTony WoodleyJoint general secretary, Unite